The European Oil Painting

The European oil painting is a genre or type of visual art. Traditional European oil painting begins around 1500. The two dimensional oil painting is different from other art, even three dimensional sculptures, because it can convey the illusions of tangibility, texture, luster, and solidity. Its objects have color, texture, and temperature that fill the world. Berger et al use a metaphor to describe the tradition as a wall safe where the ways of seeing are deposited rather the historical figure of speech as a window unto the world. They claim the stylistic conventions of the genre can be more effectively represented with their metaphor. Specifically, the European society and culture is obsessed with property and art that enables traditional oil painting conventions to naturally develop. Two exceptional masters of that genre whose principles are not incorporated but imitated are Rembrandt and Goya.